Ultra Menu Software Review

My Experience

Ultra Menu was the first menu maker I reviewed and I found the interface to be quite clean and easy to use. A very simple interface with a menu tree on the left to build your main menu items and your sub items. Below that is where you make all your property changes. Either to your individual menu items or to the entire menu group. You will still need to take some time to learn how UltraMenu applies the property and design changes but Ultra Menu does have one of the easier interfaces to wrap your head around.

Even though Ultra Menu does not have as many features as a few of it’s bigger brothers it still has plenty of features that will allow you to design some very professional looking menus.
See the full features list below.
They also have a beautiful selection of very professional and artistic looking premade menu designs if you don’t have the time or are not willing to design your own.

Once I got my head around their interface it didn’t take long to build my menu. It will probably take you longer to figure out the color scheme and design of your menu then it will to figure out how to use the software so if the learning curve on piece of software gives you a rash then you will find Ultra Menu a joy to use.

Ok, so how easy is it to upload it to the website? Here is where you may have a few problems.

NOTE: The process of getting your menu onto your website can be confusing             and complicated if you don’t at least have a basic understanding of how             folders and directory structures work not only on your local computer             but also on your remote server.

That being said, Ultra menu does have a publishing wizard for getting your menu onto your web page along with a tutorial that explains the four different publishing methods to choose from. The problem is that the tutorials are a little generic and assume that you have some knowledge of directory structures. Here are the four methods of publishing just to give you an idea of what is expected.

Method One:
If this method is used, you need to specify a local HTML file and the position where to insert the menu code into the file.

Method Two:
Copy source code manually. If this method is used, you will see the complete codes for both the HEAD and BODY part of the menu. What you need to do is to copy the codes and paste them to the web page by yourself.

Method Three:
Make a JavaScript include file". If this method is used, UltraMenu will save the BODY part of codes into a standalone external JavaScript file. Thus you can add the menu into multiple pages by including this JavaScript file.

Method Four:
Copy relevant resources only. If this method is used, you will see all resources used by the menu, and you can copy these files to the directories you specify.

Since I have experience with this I was able to figure out what the wizards intent was and get my menu on my page. Now if all this scares you a bit, no need to worry. Ultra Menu is there to take care of you. Here is where I was quite impressed with Ultra Menu. I found their support to be nothing short of phenomenal. I submitted 6 dummy questions to their support team regarding publishing the menu. I submitted them at different times. Not only did they get back to me but they responded most times with in a couple hours. One time was 20 minutes. With Ultra menus top notch support you wont have to be pulling your hair out in frustration because you cant figure out a part of the program. Although outside of the publishing process you may not need the support as everything is laid out so nicely.

Weak Points

- Not a very user friendly or intuitive publishing process.

- If you design your own template you cant apply one of their premade templates to your   design. You have to start over with the blank premade template adding again all your menu   items.

- Although it has enough features for most users the high end designer might find it lacking.

Strong Points

- The actual meat and potatoes of the software which is the designing and building of the   menu is very user friendly.

- Very clean and well organized interface

- Outstanding customer support.

- Very good price at $39.95

Summary

Overall I really liked how Ultra Menu put this piece of software together. The publishing process could use a little work but that has nothing to do with how well this piece of software actually builds and designs a menu. And once you have the publishing process figured out your good to go. I love the way the interface is laid out. Its simple and its easy to use yet is able to produce very professional looking menus. This is great for a beginner. But I certainly wouldn’t exclude the more advanced user who also wants a simple easy to use menu builder with no headaches. I’m sure there are quite a few of you that have used a piece of software with little or no support. It can take days if not weeks to get the answers you need to get it up and running. A well designed piece of software with great tech support is worth its weight in gold and Ultra Menu has both without the high price tag. At $39.95 you wont be disappointed.

Software Features

Click on tabs to compare features

  • All Web
  • SoThink
  • Ultra Menu
  • Xtreem

All Web Menu Maker

$59.95
Features

  • cross-browser compatibilityDHTML Menu Studio menus will work with all popuplar browsers: Internet Explorer 6+, Netscape 6+, Opera 7+, Mozilla 1+, Safari, Firefox on all popular platforms: Windows, Unix, MacOS.

  • no need to spend tons of money on your menus You can create as many DHTML menus, for as many web sites as you like, when you purchase a single license of the program

  • XHTML 1.1 compatible code The output code generated by the program is compatible with the XHTML 1.1 standard.

  • integration with FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Adobe GoLive and NetObjects Fusion The program also comes in form of plugins for FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and GoLive (the stand-alone version of DMS also comes with a NetObjects Fusion plugin). This makes inserting menus into websites created with these applications as easy as it gets, making DHTML Menu Studio a perfect solution for beginners.

  • dynamic creation of menus with server-side script code (pro version only) Now you can insert items into the menu dynamically, from a server-side script such as ASP, PHP or ColdFusion. This is very useful if you want the menu to reflect a structure stored in a database or enable/disable items based on user's permissions. (pro only)

  • very small size of the generated JavaScript code The program creates different JavaScript files for different browsers, so that with any single browser only the necessary code will be loaded. The JavaScript code is highly optimized using an internal optimizer to further increase loading time. On top of this, the program generates only as much code as necessary -- all the functionality not selected in the options (e.g. certain effects) will not result in unnecessary code being generated. The size of the output code is usually around 12KB (depending on the selected features and target browser the size is guaranteed to be between 8KB and 21KB)

  • use cool bitmap backgrounds and even rare fonts You can use image-based backgrounds for the menu (also with roll-over effect), coming up with amazing results (the program comes with tons of such bitmap schemes created by professional artists). Since the top level menu bar items can be created in form of images, you can choose the coolest fonts and be sure that your visitors will see them the same way. You can even choose to anti-alias the top-level menu texts for an even nicer result.

  • cool javascript effects You can apply a number of visual effects to the menu (such as partial transparency, fading, roll-over, shadow, glow effect, or keeping the menu on top of the browser page at all times).

  • hundreds of predefined menu schemes come with the program Even though you can easily create your own designs, why not choose from tons of existing designs (most are bitmap-based schemes designed by professional artists) which you can also customize any way you want.

  • XML import/export The menu structure can be imported/exported in XML format.

  • search-engine friendly code There's an option that you can switch on in order to make your menus search engine friendly. In such case the whole structure (all links) can be found by search engines such as Google.

  • frameset integration Menus can be easily integrated into your existing frame-based or frameless site design. It's up to you to decide in which frame / window the menu item links will open and in which frame the popups will appear.

  • great performance with large menus Menus are built on demand so the loading time is kept as short as possible. Also, the output script is compressed to ensure fast loading time. If image-based menus are created, the images are pre-loaded to ensure smooth roll-over effects. On top of this, the user can scroll between popup menu items if a popup menu with lots of itemsdoesn't fit on the screen.

  • adding multiple menus to a single webpage You can easily include any number of horizontal / vertical DHTML drop down menus into a single web page or multiple web pages.

  • synchronization with current URL You can now have the menu track the currently visited page (it's highlighted in the menu) -- this works also for frame-based configurations.

  • integration with existing website created with any program The program can optionally create PHP / ASP / SSI / JSP / FrontPage / ColdFusion includes or use a DreamWeaver template so you can easily embed the menu into an existing website (on one or multiple pages) -- even if your web site is frame-based, you can visually click on the frames where specific menu parts will be displayed. The built-in assistant will help you go through this process.

  • customize the DHTML menu to the smallest detail Tons of options presented in a clearly categorized tree view can be used to choose every possible aspect of the menu, from with the graphical appearance and effects, to integration method with existing website and desired functionality.

  • integrated FTP upload You can have the program upload the output files automatically to an FTP server or to a local / network disk.

  • color matching You can easily match the menu colors with the color scheme of your website. If using image-based menus, you can modify the image coloring (e.g. changing a reddish scheme into a bluish one) by changing the hue/saturation/luminance settings. If not using image-based menus, you can also choose different colors for different popups creating a very nice visual effect.

  • informative and clear user interface At every moment you can preview and test the menu by using the preview window. The menu structure is also built in a visual way, just as the final menu will look.

SoThink DHTML Menu 8

$65.00
Features

  • cross-browser compatibilityDHTML Menu Studio menus will work with all popuplar browsers: Internet Explorer 6+, Netscape 6+, Opera 7+, Mozilla 1+, Safari, Firefox on all popular platforms: Windows, Unix, MacOS.

  • no need to spend tons of money on your menus You can create as many DHTML menus, for as many web sites as you like, when you purchase a single license of the program

  • XHTML 1.1 compatible code The output code generated by the program is compatible with the XHTML 1.1 standard.

  • integration with FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Adobe GoLive and NetObjects Fusion The program also comes in form of plugins for FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and GoLive (the stand-alone version of DMS also comes with a NetObjects Fusion plugin). This makes inserting menus into websites created with these applications as easy as it gets, making DHTML Menu Studio a perfect solution for beginners.

  • dynamic creation of menus with server-side script code (pro version only) Now you can insert items into the menu dynamically, from a server-side script such as ASP, PHP or ColdFusion. This is very useful if you want the menu to reflect a structure stored in a database or enable/disable items based on user's permissions. (pro only)

  • very small size of the generated JavaScript code The program creates different JavaScript files for different browsers, so that with any single browser only the necessary code will be loaded. The JavaScript code is highly optimized using an internal optimizer to further increase loading time. On top of this, the program generates only as much code as necessary -- all the functionality not selected in the options (e.g. certain effects) will not result in unnecessary code being generated. The size of the output code is usually around 12KB (depending on the selected features and target browser the size is guaranteed to be between 8KB and 21KB)

  • use cool bitmap backgrounds and even rare fonts You can use image-based backgrounds for the menu (also with roll-over effect), coming up with amazing results (the program comes with tons of such bitmap schemes created by professional artists). Since the top level menu bar items can be created in form of images, you can choose the coolest fonts and be sure that your visitors will see them the same way. You can even choose to anti-alias the top-level menu texts for an even nicer result.

  • cool javascript effects You can apply a number of visual effects to the menu (such as partial transparency, fading, roll-over, shadow, glow effect, or keeping the menu on top of the browser page at all times).

  • hundreds of predefined menu schemes come with the program Even though you can easily create your own designs, why not choose from tons of existing designs (most are bitmap-based schemes designed by professional artists) which you can also customize any way you want.

  • XML import/export The menu structure can be imported/exported in XML format.

  • search-engine friendly code There's an option that you can switch on in order to make your menus search engine friendly. In such case the whole structure (all links) can be found by search engines such as Google.

  • frameset integration Menus can be easily integrated into your existing frame-based or frameless site design. It's up to you to decide in which frame / window the menu item links will open and in which frame the popups will appear.

  • great performance with large menus Menus are built on demand so the loading time is kept as short as possible. Also, the output script is compressed to ensure fast loading time. If image-based menus are created, the images are pre-loaded to ensure smooth roll-over effects. On top of this, the user can scroll between popup menu items if a popup menu with lots of itemsdoesn't fit on the screen.

  • adding multiple menus to a single webpage You can easily include any number of horizontal / vertical DHTML drop down menus into a single web page or multiple web pages.

  • synchronization with current URL You can now have the menu track the currently visited page (it's highlighted in the menu) -- this works also for frame-based configurations.

  • integration with existing website created with any program The program can optionally create PHP / ASP / SSI / JSP / FrontPage / ColdFusion includes or use a DreamWeaver template so you can easily embed the menu into an existing website (on one or multiple pages) -- even if your web site is frame-based, you can visually click on the frames where specific menu parts will be displayed. The built-in assistant will help you go through this process.

  • customize the DHTML menu to the smallest detail Tons of options presented in a clearly categorized tree view can be used to choose every possible aspect of the menu, from with the graphical appearance and effects, to integration method with existing website and desired functionality.

  • integrated FTP upload You can have the program upload the output files automatically to an FTP server or to a local / network disk.

  • color matching You can easily match the menu colors with the color scheme of your website. If using image-based menus, you can modify the image coloring (e.g. changing a reddish scheme into a bluish one) by changing the hue/saturation/luminance settings. If not using image-based menus, you can also choose different colors for different popups creating a very nice visual effect.

  • informative and clear user interface At every moment you can preview and test the menu by using the preview window. The menu structure is also built in a visual way, just as the final menu will look.

Ultra Menu Maker

$39.95
Features

  • cross-browser compatibilityDHTML Menu Studio menus will work with all popuplar browsers: Internet Explorer 6+, Netscape 6+, Opera 7+, Mozilla 1+, Safari, Firefox on all popular platforms: Windows, Unix, MacOS.

  • no need to spend tons of money on your menus You can create as many DHTML menus, for as many web sites as you like, when you purchase a single license of the program

  • XHTML 1.1 compatible code The output code generated by the program is compatible with the XHTML 1.1 standard.

  • integration with FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Adobe GoLive and NetObjects Fusion The program also comes in form of plugins for FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and GoLive (the stand-alone version of DMS also comes with a NetObjects Fusion plugin). This makes inserting menus into websites created with these applications as easy as it gets, making DHTML Menu Studio a perfect solution for beginners.

  • dynamic creation of menus with server-side script code (pro version only) Now you can insert items into the menu dynamically, from a server-side script such as ASP, PHP or ColdFusion. This is very useful if you want the menu to reflect a structure stored in a database or enable/disable items based on user's permissions. (pro only)

  • very small size of the generated JavaScript code The program creates different JavaScript files for different browsers, so that with any single browser only the necessary code will be loaded. The JavaScript code is highly optimized using an internal optimizer to further increase loading time. On top of this, the program generates only as much code as necessary -- all the functionality not selected in the options (e.g. certain effects) will not result in unnecessary code being generated. The size of the output code is usually around 12KB (depending on the selected features and target browser the size is guaranteed to be between 8KB and 21KB)

  • use cool bitmap backgrounds and even rare fonts You can use image-based backgrounds for the menu (also with roll-over effect), coming up with amazing results (the program comes with tons of such bitmap schemes created by professional artists). Since the top level menu bar items can be created in form of images, you can choose the coolest fonts and be sure that your visitors will see them the same way. You can even choose to anti-alias the top-level menu texts for an even nicer result.

  • cool javascript effects You can apply a number of visual effects to the menu (such as partial transparency, fading, roll-over, shadow, glow effect, or keeping the menu on top of the browser page at all times).

  • hundreds of predefined menu schemes come with the program Even though you can easily create your own designs, why not choose from tons of existing designs (most are bitmap-based schemes designed by professional artists) which you can also customize any way you want.

  • XML import/export The menu structure can be imported/exported in XML format.

  • search-engine friendly code There's an option that you can switch on in order to make your menus search engine friendly. In such case the whole structure (all links) can be found by search engines such as Google.

  • frameset integration Menus can be easily integrated into your existing frame-based or frameless site design. It's up to you to decide in which frame / window the menu item links will open and in which frame the popups will appear.

  • great performance with large menus Menus are built on demand so the loading time is kept as short as possible. Also, the output script is compressed to ensure fast loading time. If image-based menus are created, the images are pre-loaded to ensure smooth roll-over effects. On top of this, the user can scroll between popup menu items if a popup menu with lots of itemsdoesn't fit on the screen.

  • adding multiple menus to a single webpage You can easily include any number of horizontal / vertical DHTML drop down menus into a single web page or multiple web pages.

  • synchronization with current URL You can now have the menu track the currently visited page (it's highlighted in the menu) -- this works also for frame-based configurations.

  • integration with existing website created with any program The program can optionally create PHP / ASP / SSI / JSP / FrontPage / ColdFusion includes or use a DreamWeaver template so you can easily embed the menu into an existing website (on one or multiple pages) -- even if your web site is frame-based, you can visually click on the frames where specific menu parts will be displayed. The built-in assistant will help you go through this process.

  • customize the DHTML menu to the smallest detail Tons of options presented in a clearly categorized tree view can be used to choose every possible aspect of the menu, from with the graphical appearance and effects, to integration method with existing website and desired functionality.

  • integrated FTP upload You can have the program upload the output files automatically to an FTP server or to a local / network disk.

  • color matching You can easily match the menu colors with the color scheme of your website. If using image-based menus, you can modify the image coloring (e.g. changing a reddish scheme into a bluish one) by changing the hue/saturation/luminance settings. If not using image-based menus, you can also choose different colors for different popups creating a very nice visual effect.

  • informative and clear user interface At every moment you can preview and test the menu by using the preview window. The menu structure is also built in a visual way, just as the final menu will look.

Xtreem DHTML Menu Studio

$49.99
Features

  • cross-browser compatibilityDHTML Menu Studio menus will work with all popuplar browsers: Internet Explorer 6+, Netscape 6+, Opera 7+, Mozilla 1+, Safari, Firefox on all popular platforms: Windows, Unix, MacOS.

  • no need to spend tons of money on your menus You can create as many DHTML menus, for as many web sites as you like, when you purchase a single license of the program

  • XHTML 1.1 compatible code The output code generated by the program is compatible with the XHTML 1.1 standard.

  • integration with FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Adobe GoLive and NetObjects Fusion The program also comes in form of plugins for FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and GoLive (the stand-alone version of DMS also comes with a NetObjects Fusion plugin). This makes inserting menus into websites created with these applications as easy as it gets, making DHTML Menu Studio a perfect solution for beginners.

  • dynamic creation of menus with server-side script code (pro version only) Now you can insert items into the menu dynamically, from a server-side script such as ASP, PHP or ColdFusion. This is very useful if you want the menu to reflect a structure stored in a database or enable/disable items based on user's permissions. (pro only)

  • very small size of the generated JavaScript code The program creates different JavaScript files for different browsers, so that with any single browser only the necessary code will be loaded. The JavaScript code is highly optimized using an internal optimizer to further increase loading time. On top of this, the program generates only as much code as necessary -- all the functionality not selected in the options (e.g. certain effects) will not result in unnecessary code being generated. The size of the output code is usually around 12KB (depending on the selected features and target browser the size is guaranteed to be between 8KB and 21KB)

  • use cool bitmap backgrounds and even rare fonts You can use image-based backgrounds for the menu (also with roll-over effect), coming up with amazing results (the program comes with tons of such bitmap schemes created by professional artists). Since the top level menu bar items can be created in form of images, you can choose the coolest fonts and be sure that your visitors will see them the same way. You can even choose to anti-alias the top-level menu texts for an even nicer result.

  • cool javascript effects You can apply a number of visual effects to the menu (such as partial transparency, fading, roll-over, shadow, glow effect, or keeping the menu on top of the browser page at all times).

  • hundreds of predefined menu schemes come with the program Even though you can easily create your own designs, why not choose from tons of existing designs (most are bitmap-based schemes designed by professional artists) which you can also customize any way you want.

  • XML import/export The menu structure can be imported/exported in XML format.

  • search-engine friendly code There's an option that you can switch on in order to make your menus search engine friendly. In such case the whole structure (all links) can be found by search engines such as Google.

  • frameset integration Menus can be easily integrated into your existing frame-based or frameless site design. It's up to you to decide in which frame / window the menu item links will open and in which frame the popups will appear.

  • great performance with large menus Menus are built on demand so the loading time is kept as short as possible. Also, the output script is compressed to ensure fast loading time. If image-based menus are created, the images are pre-loaded to ensure smooth roll-over effects. On top of this, the user can scroll between popup menu items if a popup menu with lots of itemsdoesn't fit on the screen.

  • adding multiple menus to a single webpage You can easily include any number of horizontal / vertical DHTML drop down menus into a single web page or multiple web pages.

  • synchronization with current URL You can now have the menu track the currently visited page (it's highlighted in the menu) -- this works also for frame-based configurations.

  • integration with existing website created with any program The program can optionally create PHP / ASP / SSI / JSP / FrontPage / ColdFusion includes or use a DreamWeaver template so you can easily embed the menu into an existing website (on one or multiple pages) -- even if your web site is frame-based, you can visually click on the frames where specific menu parts will be displayed. The built-in assistant will help you go through this process.

  • customize the DHTML menu to the smallest detail Tons of options presented in a clearly categorized tree view can be used to choose every possible aspect of the menu, from with the graphical appearance and effects, to integration method with existing website and desired functionality.

  • integrated FTP upload You can have the program upload the output files automatically to an FTP server or to a local / network disk.

  • color matching You can easily match the menu colors with the color scheme of your website. If using image-based menus, you can modify the image coloring (e.g. changing a reddish scheme into a bluish one) by changing the hue/saturation/luminance settings. If not using image-based menus, you can also choose different colors for different popups creating a very nice visual effect.

  • informative and clear user interface At every moment you can preview and test the menu by using the preview window. The menu structure is also built in a visual way, just as the final menu will look.